Carlsbad Caverns: Extra precautions after white nose syndrome spreads to half of United States

Photo courtesy Peter Jones/National Park Service
Mexican free-tailed bats fly out of the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

CARLSBAD >> The most deadly disease plaguing the bat population has now been detected in half of the states in the country, causing a heightened alert for park rangers at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

White-nose syndrome, a lethal disease that strikes hibernating bats, causing a white fungus to grow on a bat's muzzle and other body parts, has quickly spread westward and was recently detected in Michigan and Wisconsin.

"I think we're all saddened by the news that there's a disease that has killed large portions of the bat population," said Valerie Gohlke, a public affairs specialist at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. "It's very sad anytime this kind of disease goes through the animal community and devastates them."

Current Argus File Photo
White-nose syndrome is characterized by a white fungus thta grows on a bat's muzzle and other body parts, such as the ears or tail.

Gohlke said the park must tweak its current procedures that require visitors who have traveled into a cave on the East Coast within the last seven years to decontaminate any clothing or equipment before proceeding into the caverns. The rule only applies if the guest is wearing the same clothing or bringing the same equipment, such as a camera, that they had with them in a visit to a previous cave. Now the park will implement the same cleaning procedures for visitors to caves in the Midwestern region of the country, but Gohlke doesn't believe the policy should impact potential visitors.

"This should in no way deter folks from coming to the caverns," Gohlke said. "It's not really a matter of if they can go into our caves. If they say yes, once we clean off their shoes and equipment they are free to enter the caverns."

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White-nose syndrome doesn't affect people or other animals but the virus repeatedly interrupts bat hibernation, sapping their energy and fat stores, which can cause starvation and dehydration.

Bats with white-nose syndrome exhibit uncharacteristic behavior during cold winter months, including flying outside during the day and clustering near cave entrances, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 5.7 million bats have died because of the disease, and white-nose syndrome has wiped out 90 to 100 percent of all bats in some hibernation areas.

National Park Service photo
Visitors gather for the nightly bat flight at the Carlsbad Caverns.

White-nose syndrome, or Geomyces destructan, was first documented in the United States in 2007 when a dead bat was found in a cave near Albany, New York.

The virus is suspected to have spread as far west as the panhandle area of Oklahoma in 2010 but no cases have been confirmed in the state. Cases however were confirmed in Missouri last year and in Arkansas this year.

Although park rangers remain vigilant in preventing the spread of white-nose syndrome to Carlsbad Caverns, Gohlke said the park has two things in its favor – the climate and species of bat that calls Southeastern New Mexico home.

"On a more positive note, the particular virus is a cold-loving virus and we don't have really cold temperatures here, so that's working in our favor," Gohlke said. "It goes in and affects hibernating colonies. The Mexican free-tailed bats, also known as Brazilian free-tailed bats, are not true hibernators; they are migratory."

The park does not track the bats flying in and out of the caverns and despite the low odds of the disease spreading to the bat population of Carlsbad, rangers aren't taking any chances.

"There's always a concern," Gohlke said. "We never feel like we are in the clear and that's why we take these precautions."

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